10 Photos that Epitomize Life in Phoenix 100 Years Ago

Arizona State University recently released more than 4,500 photos chronicling the Phoenix area's development from a cowtown in 1884 to an emerging metropolis in 1947. The collection, available for perusal and download online, is one of largest collections of Phoenix photography documenting this time period. Some of the photos, recovered...

By Elizabeth Stuart

February 22, 2016

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Arizona State University recently released more than 4,500 photos chronicling the Phoenix area's development from a cowtown in 1884 to an emerging metropolis in 1947.

The collection, available for perusal and download online, is one of largest collections of Phoenix photography documenting this time period.

Some of the photos, recovered from the archives of the McColloch Brothers Inc., a commercial photography company run by Scottish immigrants James Morrison McCulloch and William Patrick McCulloch, feature familiar landmarks, such as the Orpheum Theatre at 203 W. Adams Street.

Some reveal fascinating details about the life of the Arizona-dwellers who came before us — how they dressed, decorated for Christmas, got their tires changed, and packed up food to ship it from farm to market.

Others chronicle tragedy and triumph. One dramatic photo taken in 1910, shows a hotel on Adam's Street going up in flames on the site where the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel now stands. Another documents the moment the first water spilled over the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in 1915.

Here are 10 of our favorites:

10) The Adams Hotel goes up in flames, 1910

9) The first water spills over Theodore Roosevelt Dam, 1915

8) A child sitting on packing crates, 1920

7) View of Phoenix from County Courthouse, 1929

6) Central Avenue Dairy, 1937

5) James Cagney fans stand in line to see “Captain of the Clouds” at the Orpheum Theatre, 1942

4) Bill Sims Studebaker Christmas window display, 1940

3) Phoenix Fire Department Central Station #1, 1935

2) Children play on a tractor at Ryder Ranch (undated)

1) Traffic at the intersection of West Van Buren Street and North First Avenue, 1942

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